Assessment of Infiltration Characteristics of Soil at Faculty of Agriculture Demonstration Farm, Ifite-Ogwari, Anambra State, Nigeria

Abstract

Understanding the infiltration potentials of soils could provide valuable insights on the water use efficiency that is site specific for an informed decision on agricultural conservation practices. The study assessed the infiltration characteristics of soil at Faculty of Agriculture demonstration farm, Ifite Ogwari. Auger and core soil samples were randomly taken from a mapped-out area of the farm measuring 360 sq/m at 0–20 cm depth. The collected soil samples were used to determine the selected soil properties in the laboratory. A double ring Infiltrometer was used to assess the soil infiltration at intervals of 2, 5, 8, 12 and 15 minutes. Data obtained were subjected to descriptive analysis while variation in selected soil properties were determined using coefficient of variation and ranked according to known standards. Results showed that the soils belonged to sandy loam textural class; bulk density was 1.74 mgm^-3; total porosity was 34.51%, moisture content was 7.09%, saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) was 0.14 cm/hr, organic carbon was 1.36% while organic matter was 2.34%. The study observed that as time increased the infiltration rate steadily decreased hence the studied area can be categorised as moderate to moderately slow soils.